Beware the Ills: Part 37
He’s directly ahead of me. We’re standing where the river bends out wide, and the two shores are at their most distant separation point. I didn’t plan the maneuver at the onset, but I’m happy to see the vast amount of space between me and the western shore, which has been lined with his grunts. The wavering of the ice, and its lack of balance, works in favor of the spear. If he’s able to pin me on the ice, he could drown me or throttle me. A good strategy.
“Once again, I’m glad we met. I had only imagined some fabulous monster out here in these woods. I’m pleased to see it’s only one man with a pet.”
I chose this moment to charge him at full speed without a single glimmer of hesitation. It feels good to move this fast. Everything blurs, and the water hums below my feet as I leap across each misshapen piece of ice. I’m in front of him in two jumps. He had barely finished speaking when I hit him with my sword in one quick slash. He’s surprised, and leaps backwards with the point of my sword nearly tickling his throat. He quickly sprints sideways in his cluttering armor and runs across the ice. He’s trying to distance himself from me. I take a horizontal slash at him again, as he widens out. The point clips just below where his armor curls onto his shoulder.
It’ll sting and sour when he lifts or balances his spear.
I break away running after my slash. He charges after me, and we dash across a few of the sheets. He jabs at me. I block the closest stab with my sword. The strike comes from his waist. He doesn’t have the best leverage. The strike rattles my sword and palm slightly. It feels good to have pain. The stabs are full force, not like when I nearly killed him earlier. He attacks again, and I counter with both my hands on my sword. The spear wiggles loose and weak in the air from the counter. He can barely keep a grip on it.
We break away again and immediately start running.
He smiles more as we run side by side. That idiot smirk, his contempt makes me proud in some way. I’m buying time with my sprint. I’m waiting to judge his style of attacks. I’m sure I could kill him. It’s the troops, and berserker women I’m concerned about. She might make her little cameo when this duel concludes. She’s quite an unpredictable variable. I will kill her. I just don’t have an idea of when.
He leaps at me across the turbulent sheets. They’re quivering with each movement. He uses the tail of the spear to spray river water at me, to obscure my vision. The head of the spear stabs through the splash. The steel around the point and curved hook looks old, worn, and chipped. I knock each stab away with quick vertical slashes. I must concentrate; it’ll be easy for me to fall behind. I backpedal across the chunks of ice. He chases with his stabbing spear, piercing only empty air. He’s very fast and competent this time around.
I’m excited to truly fight.
I break to the left when he recoils one of his stabs. It gives me enough space to counter the spear. I swing right and he moves the spear vertically. The slamming collision jars us both, and whining metal fills the air. I continue swinging at him, but he back steps across the plates. I chase. I’m swinging wildly almost. I’m getting frustrated.
Be calm, be calm.
He’s contorting his shoulders sideways to avoid the blade. He’s smart. The long edge of it misses him each time, whistling empty air irritably. He can’t use the spear to counter, it’s too awkward. I’m too fast, and he knows it. He’ll eventually run out of maneuvers. The chunks of ice beneath are leaping feet dip awkwardly in our maneuvers. He stumbles slightly in his metal boots. I take the opportunity to slam my knee into his chest. This knocks him off his feet and onto his back. I stab down towards him with the needle point of my sword, which looks accurate and true.
I hit the open space again.
I shouldn’t be surprised. I didn’t expect to kill him so early on in our bout. He’s too experienced.
He rolled and jumped away onto the shard of ice next to me. I currently have pure momentum; he’s recoiled too much and must play defensive. I jump in the air to swing down at him. He leaps at me, extending his back and arms in a backwards pale curve. He’s trying to gather enough strength to hit me with a pounding vertical hit. He moves quickly in the air, but I move faster. I swing crossways using the opposite force. They connect, and the iron clangs maddeningly as the spear flies three plates away from our spot in the air.
He jabs his arm at me. A thin, brown piece of cloth has been wrapped around his pale arm. I didn’t notice it before. He pulls the cloth away from his arm to reveal a collection of sharpened points and chains. They fire at me in a metal pointed clump. They don’t separate very well in the air. I swing the Untaro fur against them as I reel back. It blocks them easily. The spring-loaded force from the weapons causes the points to get hooked in the fur. He wrenches on the fur with all his strength and sends me flying. The hooks break free of my cloak from the force. He’s trying to create a greater distance between us when we land. He needs time to grab his spear.
I’ll fall quickly.
I’ll be releasing my novel Beware the Ills in segments every Friday. You can find out more about the book right here, or check out Amazon’s info. I love this book. Happy to simply share it.
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Patrick W. Marsh
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